Global rice squeeze hitting U.S. consumers

[Guest guest]

*Global rice squeeze hitting U.S. consumers*

 

Patel lists five primary reasons for high food prices across the board:

 

-- Food production is heavily dependent on fossil fuel and oil prices

are soaring.

 

-- As nations get richer they demand more meat, shifting grain " out of

the bowls of the poorest people into the stomachs of livestock. "

 

-- Biofuel production is boosting prices.

 

-- Poor harvests may be the front end of climate change.

 

-- Speculation on food prices fuels spikes.

 

Beyond the limitations on rice sales by the two large U.S. retailers,

Patel said he expects the crisis to increase demand for food stamps and

food aid programs in this country.

 

" And I think we ultimately have to come to terms with the fact that meat

is going to be a lot more expensive, " he said. This will lead to a shift

in diet " to a more sustainable way of eating, " he predicted, or at the

least a " democratic conversation " about diet that is not currently

taking place.

 

 

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/25/BUUR10AOLH.DTL & tsp=1